The Nutrition Services Department cultivates a climate of healthy lifelong nutritional habits, supporting students, staff and administrators with reliable information, providing quality meals and responsive services, enhancing nutrition education and encouraging teamwork throughout Lawrence Public Schools.
The LPS Nutrition Service Department is funded by the revenue from meals purchased by students and staff, and is supplemented by funding from state and federal reimbursements based on the number of meals served for breakfast, lunch and snacks. These are external funds, which are maintained in a revolving fund and are not included in net school spending.
This self-sufficient operation supports principals with the daily operation of the meals program in their individual schools. Responsibilities include:
- Menu development, distributing vendor orders, school deliveries and operating satellite programs
- Developing and implementing staff development, recommendations regarding staffing issues, arranging for substitute coverage and maintaining kitchen equipment.
- Linking nutrition education with food services
- All financial aspects of operating the department including workmen’s compensation, health insurance cost, and retirement benefits.
- Sustaining and submitting required state reports to the DESE, approving and preserving records of all students’ free and reduced applications (currently 83.9% of enrolled students are eligible).
- Collecting, analyzing, and distributing Nutrition Service Department data within the district for the school administration to create an informed decision process.
